Stanley Cup chase begins

Opening round matchups for the Stanley Cup playoffs were set on Sunday after the Colorado Avalanche clinched the West's Central Division and the Tampa Bay Lightning tied up second spot in the Eastern Conference's Atlantic Division with a win over Washington.

The postseason gets underway on Wednesday with the Lightning hosting the Montreal Canadiens, Columbus Blue Jackets traveling to face the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Anaheim Ducks hosting the Dallas Stars.

The Avalanche entered Sunday tied with St. Louis at 111 points but clinched the division when the slumping Blues posted their sixth straight defeat, falling 3-0 to the Detroit Red Wings.

The Avs square off with the Minnesota Wild in the first round.

In the East, the Lightning secured second place in the Atlantic Division and home ice advantage in their first -round series against the Canadiens with a 1-0 shootout win over the Capitals on the last day of the regular season.

Other first-round matchups will see the top-seeded Boston Bruins, winners of the Presidents' Trophy for finishing with the best regular-season record (54-19-9), take on the Detroit Red Wings, which reached the postseason for the 23rd consecutive year.

The Bruins and Red Wings, two of the NHL's Original Six franchises, clash in the playoffs for the first time since 1957.

Metropolitan Division champion Pittsburgh takes on Columbus, which heads to the postseason for just the second time, while the other East matchup will see bitter rivals New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers renew hostilities.

Anaheim assured itself of the top seed in the Western Conference on Saturday with a 4-3 shootout win over the Los Angeles Kings and opens the postseason against the Stars.

Also in the West, the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks take on the Blues while the San Jose Sharks go up against the Kings in an all-California showdown.

(China Daily 04/15/2014 page23)